Germany brings one-way packaging system in line with EU law

Until recently, Germany was not in compliance and the European Commission had brought action against the country. The commission argued that Germany had no functioning national return system at the time of the introduction of the deposit obligation. Because retailers were only required to accept the return of packaging exactly like the kind they had in stock, the commission charged that the German system made it difficult to import beverages into Germany and constituted a barrier to trade in the internal market. Germany has reworked its system and simplified the rules on the recovery of the deposit for consumers, making sure the system works in compliance with the EU law.